Crew members in a cockpit area of an aircraft may suffer from several dangerous and catastrophic emergencies. For example, the crew members may suffer from respiratory related emergencies, such as hyperventilation and hypoxia. These emergencies may occur due to smoke in the cockpit, reduction in pressure level due to height of the aircraft, workload/stress, and/or the like. For example, smoke in the cockpit may occur due to short circuit, equipment failure, insulation breakdown, and the like.
Typically, during respiratory related emergencies, the crew member may be provided with a respiratory mask and further, the crew member may have to manually operate an oxygen regulator of the respiratory mask to obtain the needed respiratory gases for a smooth respiration. Manual operation of the oxygen regulator may not be possible in respiratory related emergencies, such as smoky environments, due to heavy workload and/or difficulty in locating switches for suppressing the smoke. Also, manual operation of the oxygen regulator in respiratory related emergencies may need crew member's attention, which may result in distracting the crew member from other needed vital operations.
Further, vision obscured emergencies may also occur in the cockpit area which may cause vision impairment to aircraft crew members in the cockpit. The vision obscured emergencies may be caused by several factors, such as fumes, smoke, mist, leakage of toxic/corrosive liquid of wipers, smoke due to avionics fire, smoke due to electrical short circuits, fumes or smokes due to engine failure, and the like. During such vision obscured emergencies, an aircraft crew member, for example a pilot, may wear a mask to facilitate respiration and to protect eyes from smokes, fumes, toxic liquids, and/or irritants. However, the aircraft crew member when wearing the mask under these conditions may not be able to clearly see control panel located in the cockpit area. Further in such conditions when wearing the mask, the aircraft crew member may not be able to get a good view of objects located outside the aircraft, especially through a windshield of the aircraft. Furthermore, due to the poor visibility inside the cockpit, the aircraft crew member may inadvertently actuate an undesired switch/control, while operating the aircraft for controlling the aircraft during such vision obscured emergencies.